


scrutiny

by Variesque



Category: Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6071686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Variesque/pseuds/Variesque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a couple of months after the teen titans formed & began living together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	scrutiny

She could not sleep- had not slept for a week now, her powers unadjusted to the cacophony of emotion pressed around her; she had a headache.  
Raven stood just behind the door that lead into the OPs room, a moment’s hesitation skipping over her mind & rippling under her skin. She swallowed her dubiety and slid her way into the room, stopping at the counter & watching the meticulous way Robin stacked papers. 

“Don’t look at me that way.” he had not seen her from the table. She wondered if he might have been able to sense her; however, she concluded that it must have been the compressed air from the automatic doors.

“In what manner am I looking at you?”

“You’re scrutinizing me.”

“I look at everyone with the exact same conduct.”

There was a silence, thin & curious. He might have laughed & she might have smiled.

“Do you remember my first words to you?”

“You said you knew enough about me.” she said it cooly, quickly & with nothing in her tone to suspect anything other than hard memorization. She noted how instantaneous her answer was, she did not stop to pick apart her words. She was not taken aback by his sudden question.

“You smiled, then.” he’d turned around to look at her, a wane smile of his own. A small break of conversation- she was not so immediate in her answer. 

“I had.” she spoke slowly. “I smiled often that night. More than I had ever allowed myself before.”

“Why is that?”

“I tell you one flippant anecdote of myself & you pry for more?” She does not inflect any words, though Robin feels as though he’s been chastised.

“I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

“Why is that?”

He laughs then, a short exhale of breath from his throat as he walks toward the kitchen.

“I was scrutinizing you because I do not understand.” she strummed her way behind him, seating herself on a stool as she watched him pour a glass of water for them both. He waited for her to continue.

“You were the first person to show me any credence- however fleeting & insignificant. Why was that?”

“Because I trust you,” he handed her the water & leaned across the counter. She looked as if she were going to specify her query before he continued. “you didn’t seem to trust yourself.”

“I can’t trust myself.” she took a long sip of water, unsure of whether or not she had said anything aloud.

“Do you trust me?”

“I...don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know,” he shrugged, “not right now, anyway.” he downed his glass & set it in the sink. 

“I trust you to some degree. I trust you with my life but not the contents thereof.” 

“I understand.” he said & she believed him. 

“I want to trust you,” she’d said precipitously. He saw the muscles in her jaw tense. “but I will rush nothing.” 

“My parents would have liked you.” his smile was ambivalent & she felt her entire body hum with bittersweet reluctance.

“Pardon?”

“One flippant anecdote for the other.” his smile no longer reached his eyes as he rounded the countertop to the stool Raven had seated herself upon. His hand reached for hers and gently rested on top of her knuckles.

“Goodnight, Raven.” & he almost seemed smug- but humbled? she did not know enough english to decipher his expression. She nodded & he left the room with nothing but dim lighting & heavy introspection.

**Author's Note:**

> raven is still iffy about staying at the tower. she had been staying in a hotel not far from the team & this takes place within a couple of weeks of her staying in her designated bedroom. she is not accustomed to living with so many people in such limited proximity.
> 
>  
> 
> im the Worst at endings so. sorry about that.


End file.
